SARAH PALIN IN THE ’08 CAMPAIGN: POLITICAL CARTOON PORTRAYALS

What a campaign! A drama with a cast of characters to populate a sociologist’s dream: issues of race, gender, class, age. Three “firsts” to capture the fascination of the U.S. public, one of them capturing that of the entire world. Barack Obama, possibly the first Black President of the United States; Hillary Clinton, maybe the first woman President; Sarah Palin, the first female Vice President? The cartoonists picked up on a fourth possible “first” as well – “the first white male to lose to a woman or a black.” One cartoonist depicted the situation in a three-panel lineup of Clinton, Obama, and an as yet unidentified male Republican candidate with a paper bag over his head.

Fig. 1 J.D. Crowe, Mobile Register, 9/6/08

That fourth “first” turned out to be John McCain.

As Democratic candidate Joe Biden commented after dropping out of the race, the presence of a black and a woman in the mix simply “sucked the oxygen out of the air.” But Biden did stay in the mix, becoming Barack Obama’s running mate, and then Vice President of the U.S.

The gender issue was front and center in the campaign, and it played out with intriguing twists and turns. On the Democratic side, we had a male and a female candidate whose public images were characterized by a gender role reversal. Barack Obama enjoyed immense popularity with some segments of the U.S. public due partially, it was thought, to personal qualities traditionally categorized as feminine: cooperation, compromise, inclusion, gentle demeanor, quiet manner. “The First Woman President? Obama’s campaign bends gender conventions,” reads the title of the lead article, by Martin Linsky, in the Feb. 26, 2008 issue of Newsweek. The political cartoonists picked up on this and played to it in their cartoon messages.

The female candidate on the Democratic ticket, Hillary Clinton, had to convey an image of strength and head off the risk of being seen as “not tough enough,” as a woman, to be president. In an ironic twist to the gender issue, Clinton as First Lady had been repeatedly portrayed in political cartoons and other popular culture forms as masculine, a woman who was the proverbial “power behind the throne” and who manipulated and dominated her husband. There was an outpouring of cartoons on this theme. One specific pair illustrates it with remarkable efficiency of metaphor. In the first cartoon, Hillary, drawn as an Alfred E. Neuman looking character, is featured on the cover of Time magazine as the winner of Time’s “Man of the Year” award. And in the second of the pair, Bill Clinton is pictured portrait style, his tie askew and almost no mouth, and identified as “William Clinton Rodham.” The messages are clear: Hillary is what she ought not to have been, and Bill is not what he should have been.

The October 1995 issue of Spy magazine offers another example of this type of gender commentary. The cover of that issue features Hillary Clinton posed, in a take-off on the famous Marilyn Monroe photograph, with her skirt billowing in the air and revealing her underwear – men’s briefs. Here, she is not just masculine; she is male. The provocative caption below that image, “Hillary’s Big Secret,” plays to the gender commentary, though it actually refers to the subject of an article on her finances.

These images of masculinity constituted negative critiques of the First Lady. As candidate for president, Clinton had to find ways to communicate the strength associated with masculinity in forms considered acceptable. She crafted her campaign image to present herself as tough both mentally and physically. As a senator, she had taken hard stances on issues such as national security. She spoke of having traveled widely as First Lady during times of international tension, and she alluded, mistakenly, to having taken a dangerous trip under threat of sniper fire to an embattled area. She emphasized her empathy for working class blue collar folks, assuring them that she shared their affinity for pastimes such as hunting, bar sitting, and other activities typically coded “masculine.” She spoke in a strong, deep voice and, head thrown back, she laughed out loud. “Hear Her Roar. Gender, Class and Hillary Clinton,” reads the caption beside a photograph of her on the cover of the March 17, 2008 issue of Newsweek. The laugh would soon be labeled a “cackle” (1). The cartoonists picked up on this, too.

Class issues were in play as well for both of these candidates. Could Obama, this Ivy League-educated lawyer appeal to the working class? “Obama’s Bubba Gap” reads the cover of the May 5, 2008 issue of Newsweek, the caption placed between arrugula leaves and a stein of beer. The question was not raised about Clinton, though she is also an Ivy League-educated lawyer. She had crafted her campaign to project strong identification with working class concerns, and had been largely successful at it.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, whose age and stiff demeanor were relentlessly commented on, sought to “balance the ticket” with the surprise selection of the youthful and exciting Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate. She would not only balance the Republican ticket age-wise; she would, it was hoped, lure to the ticket the votes of women disillusioned by the failure of Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination (Figure 1).

Clinton’s pantsuits had by then acquired iconic value; it was reported that the press had dubbed her campaign plane Pant Suit One. And when she lost the nomination to Obama, Clinton thanked her supporters, calling them the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit” – a reference to a popular film at the time. The cartoonists seized on the pantsuit image to metaphorically dress Palin up as a suitable Hillary replacement.

Fig. 2 Olle Johansson, Freelance (Sweden), 11/24/08

The appeal to the votes of women is reminiscent of the 1984 presidential campaign in which Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as his vice-presidential running mate. Cartoonists had a heyday with this first ever female VP candidate on a major party ticket. Playing to sexual innuendo, the cartoonists offered up a collection of images that ranged from the humorously suggestive to the surprisingly seamy. A country bumpkin Mondale figure points to his car and says he’ll “pick up a whole lotta chicks” with his sporty Ferraro (Ferrari). And a leering Mondale, seated inside the “O” of the female sign, drives it upwards like a rocket, saying “All the way, baby.”

Sarah Palin held the U.S. public in thrall for months. The attention focused on her came from divergent opinions – wild enthusiasm and cheers for the expansiveness of John McCain to bewildered incredulity and dismay at what many saw as a reckless endangering of the Republican Party due to Palin’s obvious lack of preparation. Whatever the motive, the U.S. public was intrigued – some fascinated, some appalled. The media led the frenzy of attention. They flocked to Palin, leaving their prior object of fixation, Obama, in the dust.

The cartoonists’ messages highlight Palin’s appearance as a major focus of the press coverage. One cartoon captures it with a media camera focused on her legs (Figure 2) another one juxtaposes two campaign buttons: “Obama/Biden” and “McCain/35-23-35.”

Fig. 3 Walt Handelsman, Newsday, 9/8/08

The focus on race that, under- standably, characterized so much of the Obama coverage shifted to one on gender and class. Here was a can- didate unlike any before her, one
whose public image and personality challenged easy gender-based categorization – a beautiful, playful, flirty field dresser of moose (Figure 3). One whose husband raced snow machines (the locals didn’t call them snowmobiles), and who would, if Sarah were elected, be referred to as “Second Dude.”

Sarah Palin was making inroads into terrain through which Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had been maneuvering for advantage – masculinity, represented by toughness, and working class appeal.

The challenge to communicate toughness had been tricky for Clinton (as it is for women in general). Clinton had to convey that quality without violating too severely the public’s expectations for behavior suitable to a woman. But the challenge of communicating both toughness and femininity was one at which Sarah Palin was to be amazingly successful.

When Clinton was out of the contest as Democratic presidential candidate, and Sarah Palin was in as Republican vice presidential candidate, the attention to gender issues shifted from comparisons between Obama and Clinton to comparisons of Obama and Pa

Fig. 4 David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/3/08

lin. Could Obama hold his own in the strength/masculinity contest? “Just curious, do you haveany experience at gutting a moose?” an aide asks Obama in one of the many cartoons on that subject.

Palin was an avid outdoors-person – a hunter and fisher, and her experience with field dressing moose was one of the first features of her identity that captured the public’s attention. Others that were catapulted into prominence in the media coverage included: in high school, she had been a talented basketball player whose prowess on the court had won her the nickname “Sarah Barracuda,” she had won second place in the town of Wasilla’s Beauty Pageant, and she was the mother of five children, one of them a Down Syndrome infant (Figure 4).

The caption on the cover of the Sept. 15, 2008 issue ofNewsweek reads “Palin-tol-ogy. The Advanced Study of Sara Palin and How She Sees the world.” The Sarah Palin in the photograph below the caption, hairdo and makeup in perfect order, gazes through those iconic glasses, a shotgun slung over the shoulder of her blue work shirt. The scrambled mix of gender identity that characterized Sarah Palin, so effectively captured in the Newsweekmagazine cover image, offered up irresistible opportunities for satire.

Political cartoonists mine the metaphors of the social landscape, a landscape that offers up a veritable cutting garden of gender images and stereotypes to draw from. The cartoonists had been handed a gift.

In what ways are political cartoons important? Looking at how they function offers some insight. Political cartoonists convey their messages through metaphor, primarily visual, although sometimes verbal as well. And in order for the message to be understood, the cartoonists must use metaphors that resonate with the readers and that conjure up a commonly understood story line. So the content of the cartoons constitutes an inventory of a society’s ready repertoire of images and stereotypes. Like a Greek chorus, the cartoons call attention to what is already known. As cartoonist Signe Wilkinson says, with tongue-in-cheek cartoonist humor, cartoonists are the guardians of our favorite stereotypes.

Fig. 5 J.D. Crowe, Mobile Register, 9/1/08

For example, the success of the cartoon in Figure 5 depends on the reader recognizing two story lines. The Cinderella story, in which the shoe fits only the rightful claimant to the attentions of the prince, is the most direct one: there is competition among rivals for the position as John McCain’s running mate;it looks as if Sarah Palin is favored. The second story line is critical to the cartoon’s being not just successful in its imagery, but also funny as it makes pointed social commentary. It draws on stereotypes to do this. The image of the three male candidates, hankies and bouquets at odds with hairy chests, standing there in clothing more feminine than even Sarah Palin’s, offers up the stock comic gag of men dressed up as women and looking ridiculous. It also taps into a commonly expressed sentiment that women often have an unfair advantage – in this context, the advantage of simply being female in the ’08 campaign.

And then there is also the irony, not yet revealed at that point in the campaign, of the use of the fairytale princess character, typically sweet, passive, and waiting, to depict Sarah Palin. Those were not the qualities that Palin stressed in her own presentation of herself. The public was soon to hear her now famous quip: “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”

Fairy tales are one natural source to draw on for recognizable imagery, as in the Cinderella cartoon. Another rich source is the imagery of popular culture. Sarah Palin’s wild popularity was at odds with her singular lack of preparation for the office of vice president. Figure 6 captures that by drawing on the story line of the folktale by Hans Christian Andersen, “the emperor has no clothes.”

Fig. 6 Jimmy Margulies, The Record (NJ), 10/24/08

The clothing theme was to show up repeatedly in the cartoons. The campaign had decided to dress Palin up a bit, and when that turned out to involve an extravagant investment, there was serious embarrassment to the Republican Party. In one example of this theme, Palin stands arm in arm with the elephant, with price tags hanging off every item of her apparel. A blushing elephant is “caught with his pants down,” revealing underwear labeled “$150,000 Palin wardrobe budget.”

The elephant cartoon illustrates yet another example of the importance of shared information and understanding on the part of the readers. Its caption, “wardrobe malfunction,” plays to the incident during half time entertainment at the 2006 Super Bowl game in which Janet Jackson’s breast was accidentally bared (though some thought it intentional). The incident drew extreme reactions, and a fine for the television station that aired the game. The explanation offered was “wardrobe malfunction.”

Fig. 7 Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle, 10/2/08

The announcement of Sarah Palin’s candidacy was met with a range of reactions – surprise, shock, dismay, but also intrigue. The press had reported that McCain had not informed many in the campaign of his decision to select Palin, and given what was known of her, there was serious question about her suitability for the position of vice president. But the deed was done. The cartoonists reflected the situation in an array of images that highlighted, not only her lack of preparation [Figure 7], but also her apparent distraction from it all, her dismissiveness of the importance of the information gap, and her naiveté and nonchalance about what it would take to correct it [Figure 8]. One cartoonist’s metaphor of training wheels on her podium captured the suspense that was in the air over how she could possibly manage the vice presidential debate that was drawing near.

In addition to caricaturing Palin’s qualifications and the mix of gender-identified qualities that she projected, the cartoonists were irresistibly drawn to another kind of gender issue. Would Palin receive the support of women? If so, which women? And if not, how would the withholding of support be explained by so-called “women’s rights” advocates? This was fertile ground for satire.

Enter one of the cartoonists’ favorite demographics – the women of N.O.W., the National Organization for Women. (N.O.W. membership includes men, also, but they do not show up in the cartoons. Male figures do not lend themselves to the predominant form of humor that characterizes these cartoons – a “gotcha” type humor that purports to expose inconsistency and thus hypocrisy on the part of women.)

Fig. 8 Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/2/08

N.O.W is a ready target whenever issues regarded as “women’s issues” surface in the news. The term “target” fits well, because the portrayals are almost always unflattering. N.O.W. is an even more enticing target when the “issue” is a woman candidate for high public office.

N.O.W. was featured repeatedly in cartoons from the 1984 campaign, in which Walter Mondale ran for president with the first woman vice presidential candidate, Geraldine Ferraro. In those cartoons, the women of N.O.W. are portrayed as hounding him to pick a woman as running mate. The cartoonists reached into the bag of pop culture references, and dragged out images of the jilted bride, the shotgun wedding and the club-wielding female Stone Age character from the comic strip B.C.

The focus on N.O.W. showed up again with the candidacy of vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin. In some of the Palin cartoons, the messages are slightly more sophisticated than in the Mondale-Ferraro cartoons. (We’ve had twenty-five years to become more sophisticated.) For example, one cartoonist has the N.O.W. women hesitating in their criticism of Sarah Palin to question whether they are being “male chauvinists” offering up a traditional view of women’s primary role as domestic. The cartoonist puts the focus on Palin’s personal situation – a tactic that permits him to critique N.O.W. A critique of her qualifications would not be something for which the women could be faulted (Figure 9).

Fig. 9 Chip Bok, Akron Beacon-Journal, 9/5/08

Another cartoon that zeroes in on N.O.W. uses more provocative imagery (Figure 10). A woman at a Palin rally puts Palin “in her place” – which is a domestic one. The woman holding the sign is portrayed using a stereotype that often attaches to N.O.W. members. At first glance, the figure appears to be male.

The first cartoon is more nuanced than the second one in its treatment of the N.O.W. women. The first one grants them the quality of self-reflection. The second one is straight forward ridicule of the N.O.W. woman. She is exposed as hypocritical, demonstrating an attitude diametrically opposed to the position of N.O.W., the organization that has been at the forefront of support for women’s participation in the political life of the nation.

But it isn’t only the N.O.W. figure that is stereotyped. It’s also Sarah Palin, whose characterization draws on a standard stereotype for women – oversized hips. The artificiality of that feature is apparent, given that it is completely at odds with the body type of Sarah Palin. The appearance of her face, as well, comes very close to the stereotype of the witch, yet another image drawn upon for negative portrayals of women.

Fig. 10 Scott Stantis, Birmingham News, 9/2/08

The cartoon in Figure 10 is also an especially ironic commentary, because it draws on an event that actually took place, in which the demonstrators were men. At a Hillary Clinton campaign stop in Salem, New Hampshire, two men chanted and held up signs that said “Iron my shirt” (2). The media reaction, in the very brief airtime given to the incident, was dismissive. They treated it as a silly prank rather than as a revealing glimpse into a deep reservoir of negative attitudes toward women. The fact that expressing such a sentiment was a publicly acceptable thing to do and that it provoked so little reaction may offer a valuable insight. Shifting the critical lens from gender to race, imagine a sign held up at an Obama rally saying “Shine my shoes.”

In addition to race and gender issues, cartoonists picked up on the themes of the relationship between McCain and Palin, the class issue, and the matter of Palin’s unmarried pregnant daughter.

First, the relationship between McCain and Palin. The romantic partners image is a conventional ploy and a tempting one whenever a man and a woman are featured together prominently in the news. It’s an especially enticing image when those paired up are candidates for the two highest political positions in the country. The first female vice presidential candidate, Geraldine Ferraro, was depicted repeatedly in the cartoons as Mondale’s romantic partner – his sweetie, his bride. The campaign had paid attention to the prominence of the couple image in both mainstream and pop culture commentary and tried to head it off. Mondale and Ferraro were given strict instructions not to do anything to feed the image, not to raise their clasped hands in the air as male candidates typically do as a symbol of unity and victory – in short, not to touch in any way. “They’re a team, not a couple,” wrote columnist Ellen Goodman (3). Even within the romantic couple context, however, Ferraro was regarded as the stronger candidate, and the cartoonists depicted her carrying the campaign, metaphorically, with Mondale on her back.

In the case of McCain and Palin, far apart in age, the romantic couple image would not work. But, as with Ferraro, Palin was depicted as the one who would carry the campaign, and the cartoonists revised the couple image to one of youth and age. One cartoon on this theme has McCain and Palin on stage with a banner behind them that reads “Geezer and Gidget,” drawing on a combination of slang and reference to a popular television show. In another cartoon, John McCain in a wheelchair is being pulled by Sarah Palin on a tricycle.

Another item that both the public and the cartoonists were drawn to was word that Palin’s unmarried daughter was pregnant. The revelation was especially compelling because Palin had declared herself a strong advocate for “abstinence only” as the most appropriate form of sex education and as an opponent of abortion on any grounds. In fact, one analysis of McCain’s motives in choosing Palin was that conservative views such as those would make her especially appealing to the far right wing of the Republican Party, for whom McCain was considered too liberal. Surely the news of her daughter’s pregnancy would be a setback to the campaign.

Fig. 11 David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10/6/08

But Palin managed to package the situation as a private matter and an opportunity to demonstrate “family values” in action. The “private” matter did, nevertheless, get extensive public display, which the cartoonists could not resist pointing out. The daughter and her boyfriend were repeatedly put on stage, at key moments during the campaign. Of course she would have the baby and of course she and the father would marry. But four months after the election, it was announced that the marriage was off.

As noted earlier, the concern over Palin’s qualifications had intensified leading up to the vice presidential debate. Could she possibly carry off a credible performance? After the debate took place, the cartoonists weighed in with an outpouring of cartoons based on the sporting metaphor of the high jump. Palin sails over bars just inches off the ground, pleased with her performance and strutting her glamorous appearance (Figure 11).

And in a similar cartoon on the subject, a scruffy-looking worker in overalls and carrying a six-pack cheers her metaphoric “high” jump performance.

Fig. 12 Henry Payne, Detroit News, 11/6/08

Palin’s working class presentation of herself, as just down home folks, her speech dotted with winksand punctuated with “you betcha’s.” made her fun to watch, as well as a great subject for the late night comedians. Tina Fey re-launched a career on Saturday Night Live doing impersonations of her. The working class image had genuine appeal to the blue collar demographic. Palin was the darling of the working class. And the campaign would soon reel in and trot around a Palin supporter in the person of the real life “Joe the Plumber” as representative of that group. We would soon learn that his name was not Joe and he was not a licensed plumber. But the iconic value of the manufactured “Joe the Plumber” was established and would not be undone by such discoveries. And Tina Fey, who looks so remarkably like Sarah Palin, joined Joe as a twin icon(Figure 12).

As the campaign wound down, Sarah Palin’s sights, and those of her supporters as well, were trained on the next opportunity. If the 2008 campaign hadn’t been successful, well, maybe 2012. Cartoonists used a wide range of metaphors to capture this turn of events. In a particularly creative example, “Sarah Barracuda,” in a t-shirt labeled 2012, is on a basketball court. She has stolen the ball, which has the shape of a rolled up elephant, from her opponent and, with her spike heels kicking high in the air, she dribbles unguarded downcourt to score.

Other cartoonists continued the use of clothing metaphors as they addressed this new direction. That cute, flirty, pit bull in lipstick is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who only reluctantly gives back to the Republicans the outfit that had clothed her campaign image (Figure 13).

Fig. 13 Tom Toles, Washington Post, 11/12/08

In another cartoon on the subject, Palin is that hardy frontier style character, under siege by the law (and the McCain campaign). She stands them off, brandishing a gun from the window of her trailer, and refuses to return the clothing. She will keep it for her next appearance, the 2012 campaign.

Many Republicans had initially been enamored of Palin. Not just of the idea of a woman candidate, who might possibly draw the votes that would have gone to Hillary Clinton. It was specifically Sarah Palin who was so exciting and energizing. Whatever the views of the different factions within it, the Republican Party as a whole had taken on a dramatic new image. It was only the second time in more than two decades that a major party had put a woman on the ticket.

Still, some factions in the Republican Party were not so enchanted with the Palin experience, and it would be reflected in an extensive theme-and-variations collection of cartoon images that the elephant had had enough. In one example, Palin holds a placard that says “Palin 2012,” as she drags an elephant that has collapsed and who begs to be “field dressed.”

In another, the elephant falls over backwards in his chair at the fortune teller’s sighting of Palin in her crystal ball (Figure 14).

Returning to the subject of the first woman candidate for vice president – after her 1984 run, Geraldine Ferraro said she thought that her candidacy would make it easier for women to run for high public office (4). Her campaign had functioned as a metaphoric minesweeper, detonating and thus defusing the gender landmines strewn about the political terrain. She thought it would no longer be questioned whether women had the necessary intellect to engage the issues or the stamina to endure a demanding campaign schedule.

Fig. 14 Mike Keefe, Denver Post, 11/13/08

While there were strains of sexism in the 2008 campaign coverage that were widely documented and publicly discussed (although too frequently dismissed by mainstream media), Ferraro’s specific predictions seem to have been largely correct for the two women candidates in this campaign. People did not seriously question Hillary Clinton’s intellect or her energy. To the contrary, most were impressed at her demonstration of knowledge and her ability to engage energetically on wide-ranging, complex, and detailed issues throughout a physically grueling schedule. Energy was not an issue for Sarah Palin either. And she was regarded as an extremely canny politician, with concerns about her intellectual qualifications revolving primarily around an obvious lack of information, not her identity as female.

Ferraro also anticipated that there would not be as much attention paid to a woman candidate’s clothing, as there had been with her. Early media coverage of Ferraro included the information that she was a size six. Well, as we know, that prediction was an optimistic one. Clinton’s pantsuits and Palin’s wardrobe makeover remain some of the most memorable topics of media coverage in the whole campaign.

Media coverage of a high profile woman candidate for public office inevitably brings scrutiny for evidence of sexism. Media critics who examined the 2008 campaign have offered a variety of perspectives on the issue, from denying any evidence of sexism, to describing “an avalanche of misogyny” (5). Political cartoonists are, of course, very attuned to the questions surrounding the portrayal of female figures (as well as to the portrayals of the various racial and ethnic groups). One cartoonist has described the challenge of doing commentary on Geraldine Ferraro – sorting out all the stereotypes about women, and avoiding relying on ones that are readily available but clichéd and not relevant to the message of the cartoon (6).

FFig. 15 Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner, 9/6/08

So how was Sarah Palin treated in the cartoons? In taking the social pulse, the cartoonists observed, and portrayed, the whole range of attitudes toward Palin on the part of the American public. Since cartoons are framed as humorous commentary, they often enjoy greater freedom of expression than other mainstream media forms – freedom to say things that other forms often can’t or don’t want to say.And the cartoon messages are right there on the editorial page in the company of serious political commentary. Sometimes the cartoonists tread tentatively, looking to avoid missteps in volatile terrain. Sometimes they just plunge in and deliver the message with the punch, humor, and impudence that cartoonists can get away with. Here’s one cartoonist who did exactly that (Figure 15).

(2) There is extensive discussion of the incident on the Web, including speculation (found to be incorrect) that it was a Clinton campaign set-up. It was determined to be a stunt by “radio show jokers” looking for publicity. See, for one commentary, “’Sexist’ Protesters Disrupt Hillary (Update),” The Mouth of the Potomac, Jan. 7, 2008.

(4) From an interview with Ferraro in the video Running Mate: Politics and Gender in the Editorial Cartoons. E K Miller Productions. 1992. In distribution with First Run Icarus Films.

(5) An opinion expressed by Kathleen Jamieson, Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, on the program Bill Moyers Journal, Dec. 7, 2007. She was describing coverage of Hillary Clinton. Sarah Palin had not yet entered the campaign.

(6) From an interview with political cartoonist Tom Toles (formerly with the Buffalo News; now with the Washington Post) in the video Running Mate: Politics and Gender in the Editorial Cartoons. E K Miller Productions. 1992. In distribution with First Run Icarus Films.